The EcoColumn

As
one of the most encompassing levels of organization in the living world,
an ecosystem is defined as a community of organisms
along with their physical environment. The EcoColumn (see building
instructions)
is designed to model an ecosystem on a small scale. Its components include
a terrestrial
habitat
with a compost unit and an aquatic habitat. We built ours by establishing
a TerrAqua
Column first and then adding to it—you can build yours
the same way or as a complete system from the start.

The Life Science EcoColumn is designed as a study system for concepts
addressed in the videos for Session 7 (Energy
Flow in Communities)
and Session 8 (Material
Cycles in Ecosystems). This system provides opportunities
to understand how energy is brought into the living world and transferred
through food chains, and how the living and nonliving environments
are intimately connected through cycles of matter.

Life Science has suggested several activities for the EcoColumn. “Taking
Inventory” and “Pondering Change”
(also suggested for the TerrAqua Column) provide baseline data
for studying the system over time. “What’s
on the Menu” examines the energy
sources of the organisms in the EcoColumn, which makes it possible to
construct a food web. “Basically,
I’m a Fungi” reveals a portion of the food web that usually
remains unseen in natural settings: the yeasts and molds that act
as decomposers. “When
It Rains…” turns the EcoColumn into a model of the water
cycle. And “Decomposition
Tea” compares the growth of plants in distilled water and fertilizer
solution versus water that has flowed through the terrestrial and compost
components of
the EcoColumn.